THE REPRIEVE AND REMOVAL
The feelings of Margaret Catchpole under the new circumstances which now
awaited her, will be best explained by a letter written by her to Mrs.
Cobbold immediately after the communication of the happy tidings, and
her consequent removal to Ipswich Gaol.
"IPSWICH GAOL, Sunday Evening, August 13th, 1797.
"HONOURED MADAM,
"You have heard of your poor servant's reprieve. I had no time to
write you word yesterday, because of the bustle of our return, and
the general congratulations of the prisoners. Mr. Ripshaw has
permitted me to have pen, ink, and paper, this evening, and I
hasten to write my heart. Good Mr. Sharp has been warning me
against too great exultation in my change, and very kindly says to
me in words of truth: 'Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon
thee.' This was his subject in the chapel to-day. I certainly do,
even now, feel very different to what I did when I wrote to you
last, dear lady, from Bury. I had then made up my mind to die, and
hoped to live for ever. I now make up my mind to live; but I hope
not to die for ever. No, dear lady; if I thought that life being
granted to me now was only to make my future dangers greater, I
should grieve that I did not rather suffer before this time.
"Life is sweet and to be desired, whilst the hope of becoming good,
and doing good in our time, exists. God grant that such hope may be
realized in my life! Oh! my dear lady, if by living I could only
imitate you more nearly, I should then be full of hope. I feel,
however, that temptation will assail me, when I leave this place
and enter again into the world. Here I am well taught and well
guarded against many temptations. I have many dear friends too, who
take such an interest in me, that I am afraid of being vain, though
God has shown me I have indeed nothing to be vain of, except it be
of such as you, dear lady, who take notice of such a creature as
myself.
"Oh! what a happy Sabbath-day has this been to me! I am so thankful
that my heart can sing psalms all the day long. I am very grateful
for this paper and pen, that I may be able to speak to you, my dear
madam, in this way. You taught me to read and write, and these are
my great recreations. Pray lend me some good books to read, and if
you would let me see some of your own dear writing, it would be a
great blessing to me.
"I have now seven years' confinement to look forward to. Oh! that I
may greatly improve my time! Beneath your help, what may I not gain
in my prison! It may be some weeks before I see your dear, loved
face, as I hear that you are very near increasing your family. I
would not have you come into this place at such a time on any
account. But, as I am so near you, a word or a message, just to let
me know that you, my master, and family are well, would lighten my
burden.
"Mr. Ripshaw has promised that I shall have plenty of employment.
Work of any sort, you know, dear lady, is always agreeable to me.
To be doing nothing is death to me. He tells me, moreover, that if
I conduct myself well, he will not fail to represent my case to the
magistrates for a shortening of the period of my captivity. I
received some hint of this from the chaplains at Bury. You may be
sure, dear lady, that I will do all I can to serve Mr. Ripshaw, and
to merit the recommendation of the magistrates. I hope your dear
children are well. I never was so happy as when nursing Master
Roland; I hope I shall see him soon again.
"Pray, dear madam, give my duty to my master, and to the young
ladies and gentlemen; and accept the same from your ever grateful
servant,
"MARGARET CATCHPOLE."
Margaret was true to her good intentions. She became very industrious
and trustworthy in the service of Mrs. Ripshaw, the governor's wife; and
made herself useful in every possible way to her new mistress. In fact,
she became an invaluable person in the gaol. She exercised a moral
influence over those of her own sex who were inmates of the prison, such
as no matron could hope to attain.
Her father and brother often came to see her, and occasionally they
brought her a luxury which reminded her of the days of liberty--"a
harvest cake."
The reader will not be surprised to learn that Margaret still,
sometimes, asked after Will Laud. Her brother could give her but an
indifferent account of what he heard of him; one question, however, of
most vital import to the still lingering hopes of poor Margaret,
namely--"Is he single still?" he could answer in the affirmative. As a
set-off against this, she learned that he was still deeply engaged in
smuggling transactions.
In the winter of 1797, Margaret lost her father, who was taken off by a
bad fever, which at that time raged fiercely in the neighbourhood.
The following letter to her brother Edward speaks her feelings on this
event:--
"IPSWICH GAOL, December 21st, 1797.
"DEAR EDWARD,
"My sins appear to me doubly great, because they have prevented my
fulfilling my duties to my dear father in his illness. They oppress
me, because, but for them, I should have found such comfort in
being able to wait upon him. Oh that I had wings to fly from this
place to Nacton! if only for once to be present at the last duties
we can any of us pay to those whom we love. But I cannot come, so I
send you this letter. My tears fall upon it, whilst I write it. He
was such a dear good old man to us all. Can I ever forget him?
Never! You and he both stood near me upon my trial.
"Ah! Edward, I do think my ill-conduct has killed him. He was
always so fond of me, that I think he has never recovered the shock
of that day. Yet he seemed well, and rejoiced to see me, with the
hope of happier and brighter times. But he is gone, and all our
grief, dear brother, will be useless. If we continue to walk in the
right path, we shall meet him hereafter. We shall go to him; he
cannot come to us. Yet, I wish I could join you in the churchyard;
but I may not leave the prison for one moment. It is an indulgence
no prisoner is allowed. Mr. Ripshaw has promised me that I shall
have the afternoon of to-morrow to myself, which I shall employ in
reading, and thinking about the burial service.
"Dear old man! he promised to spend Christmas-day with me in my
cell. He is in a happier place, where joy and peace will make every
day his Christmas. I shall think of you to-morrow at two o'clock.
Do you remember, Edward, the evening of our mother's funeral? Do
you remember the stranger's visit, and that stranger our brother
Charles? This melancholy time reminds me of him. You will have a
dreary home now. Oh that I had power to make it happier!
"I am glad the Cracknells are still near you, and that they are
kind to you; though their misfortunes and mine have kept pace with
each other. Never mind, Edward, what cruel people say to you about
their prophecies concerning my downfall. They only tell you these
things to aggravate you. The time may come when they will
impudently say, they prophesied my rise and progress in the world.
I hope better days are coming.
"You must come and see me as soon as you can; for I feel at this
time very low and sorrowful. So my dear brother, do come and see
me, when you are able to spare the time. Pray for me, and I will
not cease to do so for you. My dear mistress has promised to send
this by an especial messenger. How kind of her to think of one so
unworthy as your affectionate sister,
"MARGARET CATCHPOLE."
In the spring of 1798, Edward Catchpole, finding the notoriety his
sister had obtained occasioned him much annoyance, left the
neighbourhood of Ipswich, and went into Cambridgeshire, where he
obtained a situation as shepherd, and was always a respectable
character. Poor Margaret felt this loss keenly, though a letter from him
now and then cheered her spirits.[10]
Her kind friends in Ipswich made her many little presents, which she
treasured up against the time she should go out. She hoped it might be
in three years. Inquiries were frequently made concerning her conduct,
which was uniformly orderly and good. She was the most useful person
that Mrs. Ripshaw ever had in the prison.
Margaret never made use of one single shilling of that money which Laud
had thrown down for her. She always thought that the time would come
when it might be claimed; and looked upon it as a sort of confidential
deposit, for which she was answerable. No individual could have acted
with more scrupulous and faithful regard.
Time swept on, and Margaret had spent two years of good conduct in the
Ipswich gaol. The magistrates had told Mr. Ripshaw they should recommend
her at the Midsummer assizes, when she was mentioned in high terms to
the Lord Chief Baron. But the crime of horse-stealing still continued,
day by day, to be a growing evil; and, as if Margaret was made to feel
the consequence of others' crimes, no mitigation of her sentence was yet
granted. It had been injudiciously told her by some friend, who, no
doubt, meant it kindly, that an application had been made to the judge
for the shortening of the period of her imprisonment. This made her feel
very anxious; and it proved a great disappointment to her when she found
that the interest made in her behalf was ineffectual. Her mind was
unhinged, and her spirit grew restless, anxious, and oppressed. Her
mistress observed these symptoms with concern, and dreaded a return of
that irritability which had formerly rendered her so miserable.
But where was William Laud? At his old trade. He was deeply concerned in
that affair at Dunwich, where William Woodward and Benjamin Lawsey, two
boatmen belonging to his majesty's Customs at Southwold, were beaten and
thrown into the sea; and the government offered one hundred pounds
reward for the apprehension of any one of the offenders. Forty empty
carts were seen by these two men, standing ready for a run, with horses
and men in a lane at Dunwich. The reward was offered in the county
newspapers of the date of March 2nd, 1799.
Such a system of open fraud was carried on along the whole coast of
Norfolk and Suffolk about this time, that the revenue of the kingdom
began to suffer severely in the customs. In the month of March of the
second year of her imprisonment, Mr. Gooch, officer of excise at
Lowestoft, and Mr. Burdell, of Aldborough, seized 880 gallons of gin,
belonging to Will Laud and his company; and the evidence brought the
affair so clearly home to him that he was taken up and sentenced to be
imprisoned one year in the Ipswich gaol, and to pay a fine of one
hundred pounds to the king. His property was seized and confiscated;
smuggled goods were found upon his premises, and he became a penniless
bankrupt, and an inmate of that very prison where the devoted Margaret
was suffering on his account.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 10: All traces of Edward Catchpole having been lost, the
author is obliged to Henry T. Bourne, Esq., of Alford, in Lincolnshire,
for making known to him, since the publication of the work, the
circumstances which are here briefly narrated.
Edward Catchpole went into Lincolnshire, and resided some time at
Sutton-in-the-Marsh. He was always fond of the sea, and for some years
became mate of the _Argus_ revenue cutter. In this vessel, he was
present at the rescue of an English coal brig, from the _Star_, French
privateer; and having put men on board the brig, sufficient to carry her
into port, he pursued the privateer, brought her to close quarters, and
having only twenty-seven men on board the cutter, he was overpowered,
and at ten o'clock at night compelled to surrender, as the privateer had
eighty-six men against him.
This was on the 18th September, 1807. He was made prisoner, and having
spent seven years in confinement, he made his escape, and reached home
in safety.
He was afterwards appointed chief officer of the coastguard, at
Sutton-in-the-Marsh, in the county of Lincoln. Though a very brave man,
and a steady officer, he did not appear to have any very serious notions
of religion, until he was compelled by a serious wound to keep at home.
It was the blessing of God to him, and others, that this accident
happened to him, for his mind appears to have been awakened to a deep
sense of his past sins, and his soul very much aroused to inquiry, by
the kindness of an excellent neighbour, who dressed his wounds for him,
and did her best endeavours to pour in consolation upon his broken
heart.
He became sensible of his need of a Saviour; and never after forsook the
help he found in his necessity, but became useful and exemplary, and
even the means, by the blessing of God, of saving others of his comrades
and companions. He died on the 17th of December, 1836, after affording
to all around him, a Christian example of patience under suffering
affliction.
He was interred in the churchyard at Sutton, and a stone at the head of
his grave contains the following inscription:--
IN MEMORY OF
EDWARD CATCHPOLE,
A NATIVE OF IPSWICH,
IN THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK,
AND LATE CHIEF OFFICER OF THE
COASTGUARD
STATIONED AT THIS PLACE,
WHO DIED DECEMBER THE 17TH, 1836,
AGED 58 YEARS.
_Sutton-in-the-Marsh_, Jan. 1847.]